It’s Picture Perfect!

There are so many films and shows out there that have certain aesthetics according to their location, and that location becomes a character in itself. Films and shows help to define how locations are viewed and depending on their agenda to coney a message, movies and TV create the audience can be manipulated to see a location differently through lighting, music, camera angles. The importance of location has opened up avenues for tourism, created jobs and painted a picture of the city that the content is set. However, some content is still just shot in local studios.

In the early 20th century, the Hollywood movie studios wanted to control everything, so instead of filming on location, they would simply build the location on their studio lot. Obviously, this could not be the case for everyone because not every filmmaker has a studio lot to utilise. Many independent filmmakers film on location, because they do not have the money to build expensive sets, so many are subject to the unpredictable nature of location filming. Studios also build their locations so that they are not victim to the weather, political climate, and did not have to pay to send everybody to a new country.  ‘An American In Paris’ (1951) was almost entirely shot in the MGM studio in America and depicted a constructed Paris to the liking of the director. You would be surprised how often this happens. Ironically, ‘Chicago’ was filmed in Toronto, ‘Mary Poppins’ was shot at the Disney Studios in California instead of London, and ‘Friends’ was shot at the Warner Bros Studios in California instead of New York. 

Location filming is very good for realism, whereas the constructed realities of the studio can almost be a caricature of the city, just building a pyramid to show that it is set in Egypt. In the 20th century, Hollywood was more focused on making films where you can be transported elsewhere, especially in the early 20th century. At the time, they was so much war, so there was an era that wanted to create escapism, make a place look idyllic and hopeful rather than facing the true realities of the location at that time. Some films however, did shoot on location. The musical ‘On The Town’ (one of my favourite musicals), came out in 1949 and the audience got to see the real New York City as tourists themselves, as the protagonists walked around real streets with guidebooks (albeit for 7 minutes). Slowly, this evolved to more people going on site when logistics don’t get in the way.

There are many logistics such as: 

The Cost: It may just be cheaper to build it all than to pack up everything and go abroad.

Not the Vibe: Directors have a vision, and if that country doesn’t have a certain facilities that the movie or show needs, then they have to make it themselves.

The Cast: Some actors want to be close to home and if the movie or show really wants them, then accommodations have to be made.

But does it even matter if you are on location or not if the show/film constructs the reality for you?

Even if films are shot in the same location, the aesthetic of the film is dependent on the genre, the director, the cinematographer, the composer etc. For example, what do you think of when you see New York City? The cutthroat business of ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’, the loved-up location from ‘Maid in Manhattan’ or the horrific sighting of the killer gorilla in ‘King Kong’? One place can be transformed to mean anything that the story wants it to be. Sometimes, the show or movie will go as far as making the location that they have constructed, as integral to the story, for example, ‘Sex and the City’ depicts New York as a character  and the show would not be the same if it was set anywhere else. The show paints its image of New York as fresh and glossy, but others have depicted New York quite literally as Gotham City.When I think of debauchery and gambling, I think of Las Vegas. Their slogan ‘What Happens Here, Stays Here’ was created in 2003 and the media ran with it, setting many shows/films about drunken mistakes in Vegas – there is even a film with their slogan about getting married at one of their chapels. This increased the tourism of Vegas, as people go to do similar things as seen on screen and see the sites. Movies and shows influence tourism in cities and those cities cater to fans very well and gain profit.

If someone told me that I could go to Scranton, Pennsylvania, where ‘The Office’ is set, I would immediately pack a bag – and it wasn’t even filmed there, it was filmed in LA! But I will still go because the location has been marketed to me through the show, therefore it means something. It is good to reminisce on something you love. With sitcoms, the setting of the frequent location of a house, an office or a school creates a familiarity to the audience. Even though the characters are not real, we feel part of it all because we have endured with the characters. With house settings, the home aesthetic is made to be inviting and we want to spend time with the characters. Location aesthetics are designed to gain a connection, to feel something and to build a story, whether it is in the real setting to the studio lot – that is the power of film and TV.